Southern Illinois Swim League By-Laws Revised March 2018

Article I NAME

Sec 1.01 The League shall be called the Southern Illinois Swim League.

Sec 1.02 The League is made up of the following teams: Anna, Carbondale, DuQuoin, Herrin, Marion, Mt Vernon, and Salem.

Article II LEAGUE COUNCIL

Sec 2.01 The governing body shall be called the League Council and shall be made up of the representatives of each team.

Sec 2.02 Each team has one vote. The team may bring more representatives to a league meeting but they shall not be allowed to vote.

Sec 2.03 All decisions shall be made by a roll call vote, with a simple majority vote, effective immediately.

Sec 2.04 A quorum shall consist of at least four teams of the seven teams. A quorum must exist for any business to be conducted.

Sec 2.05 The council shall elect a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and League Recorder. The Past President shall serve as an advisor to the Council. The President and Vice President shall serve a two year term. Under extreme circumstances the President may serve a second term. The Secretary and League Recorder may serve an indefinite term.

Sec 2.06 The League Head Stroke Judge shall be appointed by the President and shall be a current USA Swimming or YMCA certified stroke judge.

Article III LEAGUE COUNCIL DUTIES

Sec 3.01 The council shall meet at least 4 times a year: on the third Monday in March, the last Monday in June, on the Monday before the League Championship Meet and on the third Monday in September. Each council meeting shall begin at 6pm.

Sec 3.02 The Council shall approve all new teams wanting to join the League. Sec 3.03 The Council shall establish dues in the League.

Sec 3.04 The Council shall have the right not to allow member teams to participate in the League Championship meet if all fees are not paid in full by the beginning of the Championship meet.

Sec 3.05 The Council may conduct any business deemed necessary in the operation of the League.

Sec 3.06 The council shall conduct the following business at the September meeting. The dates for the Invitational meets shall be set (sanctioned) for the following year. No additions or changes shall be made after this

Sec 3.07 The council shall conduct the following business at the March meeting. The dates for the Dual/Tri meets shall be set (sanctioned) for the upcoming season. No additions or changes shall be made after this meeting. All by law changes for the upcoming season should be finalized.

Article IV PRESIDENT’S DUTIES

Sec 4.01 Chair all scheduled Council meetings.

Sec 4.02 Select the site of the Council meetings.

Sec 4.03 Call additional meetings and hearings as needed.

Sec 4.04 Appoint necessary committees.

Article V VICE-PRESIDENT’S DUTIES

Sec 5.01 Chair all scheduled meetings in the absence of the President.

Sec 5.02 Perform duties assigned by the President.

Sec 5.03 Serve as Chairperson of Checking Committee at the Pre-Championship meeting.

Article VI SECRETARY’S DUTIES

Sec 6.01 Record minutes of Council meetings and distribute to appropriate team representatives.

Sec 6.02 See that an updated, complete minute book is passed on to the next secretary.

Sec 6.03 Notify teams of upcoming meetings.

Article VII TREASURER’S DUTIES

Sec 7.01 The present Council has suspended this position until further action.

Article VIII LEAGUE RECORDER’S DUTIES

Sec 8.01 Receive and maintain up-to-date records of all League sanctioned Meets as a League Archives.

Sec 8.02 Verify that all League Records are established in a League sanctioned meet.

Sec 8.03 Verify that all members of a record setting relay team are from the same team.

Sec 8.04 Work with the Vice President at the Pre Championship meeting to verify the accuracy of the times submitted for the meet.

Article IX PAST PRESIDENT’S DUTIES

Sec 9.01 Advise the Council of past policy and practices and assist in any way helpful to the Council.

Article X SWIMMER’S ELIGIBILITY

Sec 10.01 A swimmer may compete on a SISL team (in the town) where they would attend public high school. If that town does not have a SISL swim team the swimmer will compete with the SISL team closest to his or her residence. In the event a swimmer or team has extenuating circumstances the Council may grant leniency. Coaches may protest any violation using the protest procedure in Article XVI.

Sec 10.02 Any swimmer who wishes to compete for a team other than the SISL team outlined in Sec 10.01 must get a signed release from that team. If the release is denied, the family may petition the League Council for permission to switch teams.

Sec 10.03 A swimmer’s age is determined as of June 1st each year.

Sec 10.04 A swimmer may not compete for a SISL team and at the same time compete for a team in another league or conference in the same season. This shall not apply to a swimmer swimming for a SISL team and a USA or YMCA team at the same time.

Sec 10.05 Short time visitors are not permitted to compete unless he/she is a resident for the summer.

Article XI LEAGUE COMPETITION RULES

Sec 11.01 Current USA Swimming technical rules apply to all SISL meets, except where otherwise noted.

Sec 11.02 Age group divisions shall be as follows: 6 years and Under, 7 and 8 years, 9 and 10 years, 11 and 12 years, 13 and 14 years, and 15 through 18 years. A swimmer’s age is determined as of June 1st.

Sec 11.03 Organized practices for teams will not begin until the day after Memorial Day.

Sec 11.04 Any meeting(s), clinic(s), or group gathering(s), organized in any manner by any SISL team(s) or its representative(s), where a swimmer meets with any coach(s) for any type of in water, dry land skills or training shall be prohibited until the day after Memorial Day. An exception shall be made if all SISL teams are notified at least two weeks in advance with all information about the clinic. These shall then become open clinic(s) available to all SISL swimmers and non SISL swimmers.

Sec 11.05 Distances and strokes for each age group (See table 1, page 8).

Atricle XII ETHICS AND DISCIPLINARY ACTION 

Sec 12.01 Any team, which had repeatedly submitted unverified times for the Championship Meet, will appear, along with their coach, before an Ethics Committee that consists of one representative from each team.

Sec 12.02 At the appearance before the Ethics Committee, the coach and team will have an opportunity to explain and/or defend themselves. 

Sec 12.03 If the Ethics Committee feels the coach and team should be disciplined; they may place the coach and team on probation for a period of time deemed appropriate by the committee. S

ec 12.04 If, during the probationary period, any other irregularities occur the team could face expulsion from the Championship Meet, or suspension from the League.

Article XIII DUAL/TRI MEETS

Sec 13.01 A swimmer is limited to three (3) individual and two (2) relay events, one free and one medley. Any swimmer exceeding the limits will be disqualified from all of his/her events and those points earned shall be deducted from that teams final score.

Sec 13.02 Teams can enter as many swimmers as they want in an event. Swimmers from any heat can score.

Sec 13.03 At Dual Meets, Individual events are scored 5-3-1; Relays are scored 5-3

Sec 13.04 At Tri Meets, Individual events are scored 6-4-3-2-1; Relays are scored 6- 4-3

Sec 13.05 One team can sweep all points in individual events. Only one relay can score per team.

Sec 13.06 In the event of a 1-2 sweep by one team in a relay event, the 2nd place points go to the other team provided they have a legal relay finish; if no legal relay finish, the points are dropped. (No team may score more than 5 points in a Dual Meet for relays.) The ribbons are awarded based on actual place.

Sec 13.07 Exhibition swimmers must compete in accordance with USA Swimming rules and will be disqualified for stroke infractions. However, a disqualified exhibition swimmer will still receive a participation ribbon for that event.

Sec 13.08 In all 6 and under events, swimmers shall compete in accordance with USA swimming rules. All 6 and under swimmers will be judged and scored as all other events. If they require “in water” starts or assistance, no person shall touch the swimmer after the start of the race and until that swimmer is finished. If any contact occurs during the race the swimmer is disqualified.

Sec 13.09 A swimmer may swim his/her own age group or advance for not more than three (3) individual events and two (2) relays. A swimmer may not swim the same stroke and distance in two different age groups. Points earned in each age group by an individual stay in that age group if high point trophies are awarded.

Sec 13.10 In order to be sanctioned by the SISL, a Dual/Tri meet must follow these guidelines. The meet must have a minimum of four (4) stroke and turn judges, a starter and a deck referee. In extreme circumstances, the starter or deck referee may also serve as a stroke and turn judge. There 5 must be a minimum of two (2) timers per lane. The meet must have been approved as a sanctioned meet at the March meeting.

Sec 13.11 Starter or Deck Referee needs to record the order of finish for every race to enable timing adjustments to be made if there is a problem. If an adjustment needs to be made, take first place finish time and add .01 to the next finisher. Please keep the order of finish with the cards until the end of the season.

Article XIV INVITATIONAL MEETS

Sec 14.01 All Invitational meets must be approved as a sanctioned meet at the September meeting the previous year.

Article XV LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP MEET

Sec 15.01 The League Championship meet shall rotate among the member Teams. The order will be as follows: Anna, Herrin, Carbondale, Salem, Mt Vernon, DuQuoin, Marion.

Sec 15.02 The meet will be held on the last Saturday of July.

Sec 15.03 To be eligible for the meet, a swimmer must have participated in no less than three (3) SISL sanctioned meets and/or SISL Dual/Tri meets. The swimmer must swim at least two (2) individual events at a meet for it to count as a required meet. Six and under swimmers are only required to swim one (1) individual event.

Sec 15.04 Each swimmer is limited to three (3) individual events and two (2) relay events.

Sec 15.05 There is no exhibition swimming allowed in the meet.

Sec 15.06 Each team is limited to three (3) entries per event in the 25 meter events, two (2) entries for all other individual events and one (1) entry per team for relay events.

Sec 15.07 The meet shall follow the USA swimming technical rules during relays. Two (2) different Meet Officials must verify an “early” takeoff.

Sec 15.08 Times entered into the meet must have been established in the current SISL season and against another SISL team in a sanctioned SISL meet.

Sec 15.09 Exhibition times may be used for the meet unless the exhibition swim was disqualified.

Sec 15.10 All teams shall be allowed to use times established in a yard pool, but the times must be converted to meter times using the following conversion factor: Herrin and Carbondale pools-1.11 x the yard time. To convert yards to meters, multiply the yard time in seconds (i.e. 1:30 would be 90 seconds) by the conversion factor.

Sec 15.11 Each team must have their line-ups for the meet completed prior to the Pre-Championship meeting. The lineup must be completed using the League approved software system.

Sec 15.12 All meet line-ups will be checked by committee at the Pre-Championship meeting. This committee will be chaired by the League Vice-President 6 and will consist of one (1) representative from each team as well as the League Recorder. The League Recorder, or designated representative, must be in attendance and have on hand printed copies of all sanctioned meet results held during the season. The committee will do a simple check of each team’s entries at the discretion of the Vice-President.

Sec 15.13 All entries must be finalized at the Pre-Championship meeting. No late entries will be accepted after that meeting is done.

Sec 15.14 Awards are to be given for the first eight (8) places in each event, including relays. Trophies are to be awarded to the top three (3) individual high point winners in each age group for boys and girls. Relay points shall not be counted for high point trophies. Duplicate awards shall be given in case of identical times or points.

Sec 15.15 A Sportsmanship Award will be given to the team with the highest score in three (3) areas: Team spirit, Attitude towards Opposing Teams, and Overall competitive Attitude. Each team will score the other teams. The total will be submitted to the League President at the Pre-Championship meeting. A traveling plaque will be presented to the winner at the Championship meet.

Sec 15.16 Each team will provide officials for the meet. The Head Stroke Judge(s) and the host teams will approve and be responsible for the selection and placement of the stroke judges. The host team is responsible for selecting the Head Scorer.

Sec 15.17 Starter or Deck Referee needs to record the order of finish for every race to enable timing adjustments to be made if there is a problem. If an adjustment needs to be made, take first place finish time and add .01 to the next finisher. Please keep the order of finish with the cards until the end of the season.

Sec 15.18 There will be three (3) timers for each lane. The middle time will be the official time.

Sec 15.19 Substitutions will be allowed at the pre-meet scratch meeting only. Substitutions will be allowed only for swimmers scratched for the entire meet. The substitutes must already be entered in the meet. Substitutes for a scratch must have proof of eligibility, such as meet results showing they have a time in that event.

Sec 15.20 Championship scoring: Individual 7-5-4-3-2-1, Relay 14-10-8-6-4-2.

Article XVI LEAGUE RECORDS Sec

16.01 The swimmer must be timed by three (3) timers, with the middle time being the official time. In dual meets, if there are only two (2) timers on a lane the third timer should come from the official backup timer. It is the responsibility of the coach of that swimmer attempting to set a record to notify the deck referee and starter well in advance of that event.

Sec 16.02 To establish a League record, a swimmer must have participated in at least three sanctioned meets. The record can be broken before the 7 swimmer has swam three meets, but the record will not be recognized as official until the three meet rule has been met.

Sec 16.03 The original pink or blue cards should be sent to the League Recorder as soon as possible so records can be updated in a timely manner. If a record is broken at an invitational that is using lane sheets instead of cards, the original lane sheet must be sent in to the League Recorder with the swimmer and time highlighted.

Article XVII PROTEST PROCEDURE

Sec 17.01 Only Coaches may file a protest at SISL meets.

Sec 17.02 A protest may be lodged orally with the Meet Referee within 30 minutes of the end of the meet.

Sec 17.03 A protest which cannot be settled by the Meet Referee shall be confirmed in writing to the League President within 24 hours. The President shall notify the other team involved and at his/her discretion refer it to the League council.

Sec 17.04 The President cannot be a Championship Meet Referee because he/she is the main step of the protest procedure.

Sec 17.05 A protest of a team’s Championship meet lineup has to be asserted at the Pre-Championship meeting. The council will resolve the protest prior to the end of the meeting.

Article XVIII AMENDMENTS

Sec 18.01 Proposed amendments to the by-laws may be presented in writing at the September meeting. The proposed amendments shall be read, discussed and then tabled for any further action until the March meeting. At the March meeting the proposed amendments shall be subject to further discussion and a vote. To be effective, a proposed amendment must receive approval of two thirds of the voting members present. If an amendment is to be added and or changed during the swimming season the vote must be full agreement.